Giants Among Us
by TouchedbyaMunster
Summary: Set right after the final episode of the Wonder Woman TV series starring Lynda Carter (chronological order, not airdate order), in which Wonder Woman and Bryce Candall must stop Giganta. Also sets up the segue into the Wonder Woman '77 comics
1. Chapter 1

**Giants Among Us**

Set after the final Wonder Woman TV episode, "The Man Who Could Not Die" (in chronological order, not airdate order), which sees Wonder Woman help a near-invulnerable man, Bryce Candall. They are still on the hunt for Dr. Reichman in Los Angeles. Leading up to the Wonder Woman '77 comic story which introduces Silver Swan.

Diana walked into Hawthorne's office.

"Mr. Hawthorne," Diana said, "Have you found any trace of Reichman yet?"

"No, nothing's turned up, Agent Prince," Hawthorne said. "You and your pal should keep looking."

"Alright, I'll contact Brett." Diana said, as she turned and walked out of the office. She went down to the cafeteria to eat with her newest coworker, Brett Cassidy, aka the near-invulnerable man, Bryce Candall.

"Thanks for getting me this job, Diana," Bryce said, "But I still don't see the point in taking on a new name."

"Well, you do want to protect yourself, don't you?" Diana asked, "I mean, in case Reichman figures out where you are. Not that you need protection, but a little conspicuousness couldn't hurt. Speaking of, were you able to find Reichman yet?"

"Not yet," Bryce Candall said, "Though I may have gotten a lead. Some anonymous sources claim he packed up and moved to Metropolis."

"Well, if he's in Metropolis, a certain Man of Steel should be able to handle him." Diana said.

"I thought that's my name," Bryce said with a smirk, as Diana remembered she suggested he join the circus under that name.

"I've heard it's…already been taken," Diana said with a smile.

"Well, we should probably find Wonder Woman, so she can help," Bryce said.

"Probably," Diana said, "I'll catch you later, Bryce. Bye." She walked off. She wished Steve could be here to help her with this case, but he had to take care of things in Washington. The IADC relocated her for a specific reason, and she wasn't about to let them down.

Meanwhile, in an upscale penthouse in Metropolis, Reichman was sipping Champaign with a new lady friend.

"Mr. Luthor was very generous to let me rent his penthouse," Reichman said, "but don't worry my dear, we'll make the most of it." As they clinked glasses together, they heard a distant rumbling growing louder and louder with each passing second.

"What is it?" the woman cried.

"I don't know, but stay here." Reichman said, grabbing his pistol and heading towards the door. Suddenly the door burst off its hinges and went flying across the room. In the doorway stood a muscular redhead dressed in jungle garb, wearing a leopard pelt two-piece suit.

"I see you've got another lady friend, Reichman!" the woman shouted. "Is she your next victim? Better run while you still can, honey!" The nervous girl quickly dashed out the door.

"Pleasure to see you again, Doris," Reichman said.

"Wish I could say the same," she said, "And you know it's Giganta now!"

"Yes, Giganta," Reichman said, "I heard your little villains club against those legendary superheroes didn't quite work out, now did it? Not to mention your 5 second romance with the Atom*. What seems to be the problem? I'm not here to give dating advice, by the way."

"I underwent those experiments seven years ago in order to stop Wonder Woman! She was a threat to my research! You wanted a weapon for when she came back to America! It's been over a year now since she's returned from hiding and I haven't gotten a chance to face her! She's just been fighting thugs, terrorists and talking brains!" Giganta said. "But then I heard she'd been spotted in Los Angeles, and had an encounter with your more recent experiments, and I knew I had the perfect opportunity."

"So what do you need my help for?" Reichman asked.

"I want you to help me grow!" Giganta said. "During my time in the Legion of Doom*, that wizard Mordru altered my cellular structure so I couldn't change size anymore. I need you to counter his so-called 'magic' with your science!"

"All see what I can do," Reichman said, "But wouldn't you want to go someplace a little more…private? You don't want to attract the attention of Big Blue, do you? I've heard that in this city, his presence is widely felt."

"That alien is probably off stopping some rocket from heading into the sun or something," Giganta said, "But you're right, we probably should head back to LA, that way we'll be close to Wonder Woman when she finally falls!"

Meanwhile, back in Los Angeles, Bryce Candall was snooping around an abandoned science lab.

 _Maybe there's something about Reichman I can find here,_ he thought. Suddenly he heard a loud crash. One of the chemicals in a beaker fell and started a fire. Wonder Woman burst on the scene. Quickly put out the fire, and she and Bryce leapt out the window.

"Bryce, what were you doing in there?" she asked.

"I was looking to see if I could find more information on Reichman." Bryce said.

"Diana Prince told me you told her that Reichman may have fled to Metropolis." Wonder Woman said.

"And that just might be the case." Bryce said. "I managed to grab this file. It says that Reichman was connected to a project supervised by Lexcorp a few years ago." Wonder Woman grabbed the envelope and paged through the files.

"It says that Reichman used to work with a scientist named Dr. Doris Zeul who did lots of experiments with apes." Wonder Woman said, "You know, I fought an ape in the 1940's that the Nazis used in an experiment. Its name was Gargantua."*

"Forget Gargantua!" a female voice shouted, "There is only Giganta now!" A redheaded woman stood adjacent to them, wearing a brown trenchcoat. She took it off to reveal her jungle garb. To the surprise of both Wonder Woman and Bryce, the woman started to grow…and grow…and grow.

"FACE ME NOW, PRINCESS!" her thundering voice roared, as her figure towered over them. "LET'S SEE WHAT YOU'RE MADE OF!" The Amazon Princess leapt out of the way, as the titanic terror stomped her foot to the ground.

"Bryce!" Wonder Woman shouted, "Try to knock her down!"

"With pleasure, princess!" Bryce said, as he went for her gigantic ankle. He kicked it with a powerful force and the enormous vixen started to lose her balance. Wonder Woman grabbed her lasso and tied the woman's legs together. She went tumbling forward onto some power lines below, while Bryce quickly moved nearby bystanders to safety. The fall caused the ground to shake and several nearby windows to shatter. Giganta was knocked out, least for the moment.

Meanwhile, Reichman was watching the events unfold in an alleyway across the street. He got out a walkie-talkie from his coat pocket.

"Our plan has failed," he said, "Wonder Woman defeated the weapon."

"Return to base!" said the mysterious voice on the other line. As Reichman started to make a run for his car, Bryce noticed his movement out of the corner of his eye. Bryce went after him.

"Bryce, wait!" Wonder Woman called. Bryce didn't respond. He was determined to bring Reichman to justice. With the fall knocking Giganta unconscious, the titanic terror had shrunk to normal size. Wonder Woman ran after her partner. She leapt in front of the car and stopped it. With nowhere left to go, Reichman got out and started to flee. She grabbed her tiara and flung it at him, knocking him out.

"Aw, I wanted to do that!" Bryce said, "You may still get your chance. Anyway, we caught both Reichman and Giganta. Maybe now we can figure out a way to reverse your condition. Let's see what he knows."

TO BE CONTINUED…

*See the Legends of the Superheroes special, "The Roast"

*See Legends of the Superheroes special, "The Challenge"

*See Wonder Woman episode, "Wonder Woman vs Gargantua"

Note: Although the Legends of the Superhero specials were released in 1979, my theory is it happens a few years earlier since Robin isn't Nightwing yet.


	2. Chapter 2

Back at headquarters, Diana Prince, "Brett Cassidy", and Dale Hawthorne were questioning Giganta and Joseph Reichman.

"Alright Reichman," Hawthorne snapped, "Talk! Who are you working with?"

"I'll never talk!" Reichman retorted.

"If only we had Wonder Woman's magic lasso," Hawthorne said, "Then they'd spill their guts!"

"Why don't you go take five, Mr. Hawthorne," Diana said, "I'll see if I can handle things from here."

"Alright," Hawthorne said, as he left the room.

"Listen Reichman," Bryce said, "I need that cure!" I want to be normal again!"

"Why would you want to be normal, tough guy?" Giganta asked, "With our combined strength, we could rule this city!"

"No dice, lady!" Bryce said, "Besides, Diana…say, where is Diana?" He looked around the room to find Diana had vanished. Suddenly, Wonder Woman came through the door.

"Ms. Prince went for a coffee break," Wonder Woman said, "but she told me to take over, and I can be very persuasive!" She wrapped them both in her magic lasso.

"Alright," she said, "Now you have to tell the truth! Who are you working for?"

"Ps…Psycho." Reichman said.

"You'll have to do better than that!" Wonder Woman replied, "I've heard Los Angeles is full of psychotics!"

"True," came a voice, "But this time the doctor is in!" Suddenly, the Amazon was shot from behind with a laser. A small man was hovering in a robotic suit.

"And this time the doctor's orders are to get some rest while my friends and I take our leave!" the man continued.

"I don't think so!" Bryce shouted, racing after them.

"I had prepared to tangle with the so-called 'Invulnerable Man', so I prepared something special for you!" the man said. He threw something at him, and suddenly Bryce was seeing himself falling off a cliff to his death.

"You…won't…get away." Wonder Woman said weakly.

"I'd advise not following us, princess," the man said, "I borrowed some fear gas from my friend in Gotham City. In your condition, you won't last long before you pass out, neither will your friend. Plus, I have a little insurance to make sure you won't follow us!" He pressed a button and suddenly a projection of none other than Steve Trevor Jr appeared on the wall. He was in chains, dangling over a pit.

"Steve!" Wonder Woman gasped.

"You follow us, he dies." the small man said, "I think you get the picture. Ta-ta, princess. We shan't meet again!" He pressed another button and blasted a hole through the wall and left with Giganta and Reichman. Shortly thereafter, Dale Hawthorne came back in.

"What's going on in-aaah!" he looked around, startled at the destruction before him. He went over to Wonder Woman. "Wonder Woman! What happened?"

"I'm afraid your prisoners got away." Wonder Woman said.

"Where's Agent Prince?" Hawthorne asked, "And what happened to Cassidy?"

"He'll be fine in a few minutes, Mr. Hawthorne. I'll tend to him myself. Agent Prince went to go follow up on a lead, I believe." Wonder Woman said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to stop that madman. A friend of mine may be in trouble!" She grabbed Bryce in her arms and walked out the door. Later on, Bryce awoke in her apartment.

"Wh-What happened?" he asked, groggily, as he came to on her couch.

"The effects of the fear gas should be wearing off by now," Diana said.

"Fear gas?" Bryce asked, "What do you mean?"

"Wonder Woman brought you here, Bryce," Diana said, "It looks like we're dealing with the likes of a madman calling himself Dr. Psycho. He gassed you with some sort of fear toxin. I did some research, it looks like it originated from a criminal mastermind in Gotham City named Jonathan Crane, otherwise known as the Scarecrow."

"Gotham City?" Bryce asked, "You mean, like Batman? That Gotham City?"

"The very same," Diana said.

"Well, maybe Batman can help us," Bryce said, "After all, I've heard he's the world's greatest detective."

"Maybe, but I wouldn't know how to contact him," Diana said, "From what I've heard, no one's seen him in a couple years." Diana remembered how almost 10 years ago, Batman had helped defend her home of Paradise Island against the ravenous rapscallion, Ra's Al Ghul.* She hadn't seen him since.

"Do you have any other leads?" Bryce asked.

"Well, I sent over some information to my friends at the IADC back in Washington." Diana said, "But in worse news, my good friend Steve Trevor, may have been kidnapped."

"Well, where do you think they're hiding now?" Bryce asked.

"I don't know," Diana said, "But Mr. Hawthorne is trying to figure it out."

"Well good luck to him," Bryce said, "It's like finding a needle in a haystack."

"One very large needle," Diana said, "Giganta doesn't exactly 'blend in.'"

"Fair point," Bryce said, "Although that chick can and does change size. She's probably normal size already." Suddenly the phone rang. Diana answered it.

"Hello? This is Diana Prince. May I help you?" she asked.

"Diana, help!" came the muffled voice on the other end of the line. It was Steve.

"Steve, are you all right?" Diana asked.

"He will be, Agent Prince," Dr. Psycho said, "Once you meet our demands."

"What do you want, you madman?!" Diana asked angrily.

"We'll return Agent Trevor to you, along with the formula to make Mr. Candall normal again, provided you give us the total of $50,000 in unmarked bills in one hour." Psycho said.

"You're crazy!" Diana protested, "Where would I get that kind of money?"

"No, psychotic," Psycho said, "And that's up to you to figure out. When you do, come alone to the warehouse district of the East end of town. We'll be in touch." She hung up the phone.

"That was Psycho," Diana said, "He and his cohorts want $50,000 in unmarked bills, or most likely, Steve dies. I can't let that happen, but where are we going to get the money?"

"I think I might have an idea," Bryce said. "But we'll need Hawthorne's help."

Later, Diana shows up at the warehouse with a briefcase.

"Psycho!" she shouted, "I have your money! Release Agent Trevor!"

"Excellent," he said, coming out of the shadows, as Reichman grabbed the briefcase. "Except for one small detail. Agent Trevor…was never here!"

"Diana, help!" a projection of Steve appeared on a screen and then faded away.

"I am the master of psychosis!" Dr. Psycho declared, "I convinced you to help your friend who was never in harm's way to begin with!"

"Then this was all a trap!" Diana exclaimed, "Good thing I brought back-up!"

Bryce leapt through the window. He started fighting Reichman. Diana fled, then did her fantastic wonder-spin as Wonder Woman leapt into the fray.

"Wonder Woman!" Psycho exclaimed, "Giganta, crush her!"

"With pleasure!" Giganta bellowed, her form growing to towering heights. She and Wonder Woman started battling, as Psycho ran away with the money.

"Oh no you don't!" Wonder Woman shouted, wrapping him up in her lasso. She proceeded to fling him across the room and he landed right on top of Reichman, knocking them both unconscious. Bryce came to help Wonder Woman fight Giganta.

"You two puny wimps will never beat me!" Giganta shouted.

"Oh, I beg to differ!" Wonder Woman said, as she wrapped her lasso around Giganta's legs, "The bigger they are…"

"The harder they fall!" Bryce said, landing a solid kick to Giganta's face. Her balance was off due to her tied legs, and she toppled to the ground, landing on top of Psycho and Reichman.

"Looks like we've got this case all wrapped up," Bryce said.

"Good thing Psycho never bothered to check the briefcase and realize there was no money in there, just sheets of blank paper." Wonder Woman said.

Later back at headquarters…

Diana and Bryce walked into Hawthorne's office.

"Good work, you two. You helped stopped Reichman, Giganta and that Psycho character, with Wonder Woman's help." Hawthorne said.

"Thank you, Mr. Hawthorne." Diana said, "If you'll forgive me sir, I've decided to resign from my position here and return to the IADC back in Washington. This adventure has made me realize that."

"You do what you have to, Agent Prince." Hawthorne said. "We can take care of things here."

"Does that mean Wonder Woman will leave too?" Bryce/Brett whispered.

"Quite possibly," Diana said, "I'm sure you can protect this fair metropolis of Los Angeles by yourself."

"Now Diana, don't go confusing me with Big Blue again!" Bryce/Brett said as Diana grinned. "But what about my cure? I'd be normal again. I don't know if superhero-ing is right for me."

"That's for you to decide, Bryce." Diana said.

Later, after a long flight home, Diana arrived back at the IADC in Washington.

"Diana!" Steve Trevor Jr. said, "I didn't expect you back so soon!"

"I felt I'm needed here, Steve," she said, as she hugged him, "It's so good to see you."

"Good to see you too," he said, "As long as you're back, we got a tip that a Dr. Pochoikov could be the next target of a group of Soviet spies."

"I'm on it, sir!" Diana said.

"It's good to have you back, Agent Prince!" he said.

"It's good to be back, sir!" she said with a smile.

THE END

*As seen in the comic story, Batman '66 meets Wonder Woman '77


End file.
